Russia and Ukraine blame each other for slowing prisoner exchange

ISTANBUL

Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for slowing down the exchange of prisoners between the two countries.

Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets said on Telegram early on Sunday morning that he was turning to his Russian counterpart Tatyana Moskalkova with a request to provide him with a list of Ukrainian prisoners of war whom Moscow is ready to urgently return.

Lubinets expressed his appeal amid Russian claims that Kyiv refuses to accept its citizens, saying: “Ukraine is always ready to accept all lists and all our citizens! We are always ready to exchange prisoners of war!”

“Usually the Russian Federation slows down these processes. And he uses this as a method of influencing Ukrainian society!” Lubinets further said.

A day earlier, Moskalkova reported on Telegram that Moscow had repeatedly asked to intensify the exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine.

“However, due to the politicization of the issue by the Ukrainian side, exchange processes are extremely difficult and slow,” Moskalkova said.

On the same day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, at a briefing, accused Ukraine of sabotaging the prisoner exchange process, saying that these processes are “politically motivated” by Kyiv and are being used as a “media tool.”

At the same briefing, Zakharova said that the Russian Defense Ministry had offered to transfer 935 Ukrainian prisoners of war as part of this year’s exchanges, but Kyiv only agreed to the return of 279.

​​​​​​​Russia and Ukraine have carried out numerous prisoner exchanges since the war between the countries began on February 24, 2022.

The last exchange between Moscow and Kiev took place in mid-October, when the two countries exchanged 95 prisoners of war each.

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